Published March 8, 2005
US, Syria (AP) — The presidents of Syria and Lebanon announced yesterday that Syrian forces will pull back to Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley by March 31, but a complete troop withdrawal will be deferred until after later negotiations.
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Later, Syrian military vehicles and personnel were seen moving east in the first signs of a pullback. Syrian troops in the region had stayed put for days before Monday’s movement.
The announcement, made after a meeting between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, said Syria’s 14,000 troops will pull back from northern and central Lebanon to the east, near Syria’s border.
Then, military officials from both countries will decide within a month how many Syrian troops will remain in the Bekaa Valley and how long they will stay there. The soldiers have been in Lebanon for 29 years.
After a negotiated timeframe, the two governments will “agree to complete the withdrawal of the remaining forces,” the statement said.
In Beirut, at least 70,000 people — some estimates said the number was at least twice as high — gathered at central Martyrs’ Square to demand that Syria leave, much larger than the demonstrations last week that led to the toppling of Lebanon’s pro-Syrian government.
The agreement did not set a specific timetable for that complete withdrawal, which could fall short of demands by the United States, Israel, France, Russia and other nations that Syria completely pull its troops from its eastern neighbor.
The announcement stated, “The Syrian and Lebanese agree on continuing the withdrawal of Syrian Arab forces.”
It added that the redeployment to the Bekaa Valley was in line with the 1989 Arab-brokered Taif Accord, which called for Syria to move its troops to the Lebanese border and for both countries to then negotiate the withdrawal.
A White House spokesman denounced the move as a “half measure.”
“We stand with the Lebanese people, and the Lebanese people, I think, are speaking very clearly,” spokesman Scott McClellan said. “They want a future that is sovereign, independent and free from outside influence and intimidation.”
The United States has called for a complete withdrawal of Syrian soldiers and intelligence agents before Lebanese parliamentary elections scheduled for May.
